HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL: Waynesboro falls in rain-shortened game to South Western

Saturday

May 11, 2013 at 9:00 AM

The Waynesboro Maidens varsity softball team didn’t get a last at-bat on Friday.

Lee Goodwin

WAYNESBORO — The Waynesboro Maidens varsity softball team didn’t get a last at-bat on Friday.Too bad, because there was a lot riding on their non-league game against fellow Quad-A South Western. Waynesboro had a chance to move up once more in the District 3 power rating with a berth in the playoffs on the line.The Maidens jumped from 19th to 17th after their 9-7 victory against 3rd ranked Class AAA Greencastle-Antrim the day before. Yesterday, it was an unearned run in the top of the fourth and no answer by Waynesboro that enabled the Mustangs to secure a rain-shortened 2-1 victory.“What can you say?” said Waynesboro head coach Doug Stuart, whose team lost the game after umpires called the game in the top of the sixth inning with South Western runners on second and third with no outs. “In a tight game, you can look back on who plays better defense. Defense has been our Achilles heel all year. The couple of errors we made cost us two unearned runs. In a rain-shortened game, it hurts.”The Maidens (10-9) have one more chance to get a win and then need help. Waynesboro hosts Gettysburg in a Mid-Penn Colonial Division game at 4:15 p.m. Monday. The top 16 teams qualify for the district playoffs.“I would have loved to have had two more at bats,” Stuart said. “The loss was huge because we picked up a lot of points with the win against Greencastle-Antrim.”South Western (9-11) scored what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning. Danni Savino reached second base on an infield error and was sacrificed to third by Katelin Willingham. Savino scored on a ground out back to pitcher Haely Beamer.Waynesboro had a baserunner in the bottom of the fourth but couldn’t get Erin Burd home. Burd walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Alyssa Hamilton. But Toomey, who struggled mightily in the second inning but somehow got out of a bases-loaded jam by giving up just one run, got out of the inning by inducing a ground ball that resulted in the third out.“We didn’t hit the ball extremely well,” Stuart said. “We moved a couple of girls over with the bunt, but we didn’t get any of the big hits we’ve been getting.”The Mustangs struck first when Willingham singled, advanced to third on a two-base error and scored on a ground out.Waynesboro, which left a runner on third in the first inning, tied the game in a hurry with a run in the bottom of the second. With two outs, Cheyenne Henning ripped a double. Courtesy runner Devynn Wiesniewski advanced to third on a passed ball. Burd walked and Hamilton came through with a clutch RBI single. Lead-off hitter Nicole Kreimer reached base on an error to load the bases, but a sharp grounder to third baseman Tori Kephart ended the rally when Kephart raced to the bag for the final out of the inning.The Maidens had three more baserunners in the game with none getting past second. Meanwhile, Beamer set down South Western in order in the fifth and gave up two singles to start the sixth inning when lightning was spotted in the skies to the west of the field. Play was halted due to lightning at first, but then heavy rains came, prompting the umpires to end the game.

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